Between Heathenism and Christianity - College of Stoic Philosophers
Between Heathenism and Christianity - College of Stoic Philosophers
Between Heathenism and Christianity - College of Stoic Philosophers
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Plutarch <strong>and</strong> the Greece <strong>of</strong> His Age<br />
was already known by reputation to some <strong>of</strong> the literati,<br />
<strong>and</strong> he embraced the opportunity to enlarge the circle<br />
<strong>of</strong> his acquaintances. Athens he visited a number <strong>of</strong><br />
times, <strong>and</strong> Sparta at least once.<br />
his celebrity in his lifetime, <strong>and</strong> in<br />
Yet, notwithst<strong>and</strong>ing<br />
striking contrast<br />
to his fame in modern times, he is not quoted by any<br />
extant Roman writer, <strong>and</strong> but rarely by his own<br />
countrymen.<br />
As a patriotic citizen <strong>and</strong> an admirer <strong>of</strong> all that was<br />
venerable <strong>and</strong> worthy <strong>of</strong> preservation in the history<br />
no less than in the traditions <strong>of</strong> Greece, Plutarch felt<br />
it incumbent upon him to discharge both civil <strong>and</strong><br />
religious duties as occasion called him. He was a<br />
priest <strong>of</strong> Apollo to whose worship he was ardently de<br />
voted <strong>and</strong> to whom he frequently refers in his<br />
works, among others in the De Sera. As a conse<br />
quence he interested himself greatly in the religious<br />
festivals that occurred so frequently in Delphi near<br />
by. It is also plain from his writings that he kept<br />
open house. People who desired to learn, <strong>and</strong> all who<br />
took life seriously, were always welcome. In some <strong>of</strong><br />
the young men who came to him for enlightenment,<br />
whom, nevertheless, we cannot regard as his pupils<br />
except in the Socratic sense, he took a lifelong in<br />
terest.<br />
The choice <strong>of</strong> many <strong>of</strong> the subjects discussed<br />
in his lectures was probably accidental. They were<br />
proposed by persons who visited him, talked over at<br />
the time, but afterwards more fully investigated <strong>and</strong><br />
the results written out. It this way light was thrown<br />
upon them both by<br />
the oral<br />
117<br />
contributions <strong>of</strong> an in-